


Because You Care

by Emanemmy12



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-03 23:23:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2891930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emanemmy12/pseuds/Emanemmy12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt. The first time Shaw tells Root that she cares about her (not the mission, not the dog, not the team). Thanks!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Because You Care

The first time you feel that jolt of fear, you don’t recognize exactly what it is. You can only think of the fact that she is going alone to get herself killed. You stop and go to her, flying to her side to give the assistance that you know no one else can give her. After she disappears and you have to blend in, be quiet, and stay hidden. You are so good at this, but it gives you time to think, think about her. You can’t ever remember feeling something like that before. When your mind tries to remember when this happened, things become so blurry and at the end of it all, your heart feels like it is being tugged somewhere far away. It hurts. You know it can’t be a heart attack and your mind races for another diagnosis but there is nothing and then you know. You remember asking your mother what these things felt like. She had always done her best to tell you, to explain. It had served you well enough to blend in when you had to, but you still hadn’t ever actually understood them. So this was what caring felt like. You stuff it down. There was no need for this knowledge and it would only complicate things anyways. 

The second time you are stunned. The words ring through your head as you wait to hear that she is alive. “It must be won whatever the cost.” Objectively you know this to be true, but there is that pulling again and you can’t help thinking, “No, not her.” You know how she feels about you, you’ve always known and your actions feel like a betrayal of that knowledge. It’s been there in her eyes, the way that she moves around you, and it isn’t like she pushed that hard to get a response. The way she treats you like you are not broken means the world and the idea losing that, losing Root despite all that that entails makes your blood run cold. You know that she must be injured and it kills you that you aren’t the one that is doing the dressing and telling her how to take care of it. She is not invincible. That night you don’t go home. You drown out those words in the warmth of someone else. When Finch tells you that he spoke to her, you can’t help but feel slightly disgusted with yourself. You keep dancing around those words with her, not letting yourself say what you know know that you feel. 

The third time it’s warmth instead of fear. She’s chastising you for almost dying and she says those words out loud. You know that when she says people that she really means herself. It isn’t until after that you wake up that those words have the desired effect. Oddly, you feel protected, even though it is protection from yourself. She circles around you, teasing and caring and you think that you can stand this for awhile before you get too stir crazy. But then things turn down for the worse and you have to go. You are needed to fix things and you know that she is going to try and look for you. So you disappear hoping that she will see in your actions the words that you can’t quite bring yourself to say yet. 

The forth time doesn’t happen until everything is al over. Your body is pressed against hers, hot and impatient. You say those words over and over again with your mouth, your tongue, and your hands. It isn’t until you are both exhausted and panting that you push yourself up and kiss her gently on her forehead. She asks you what that was for and you smile down at her. “Because I care.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit different but I hope you liked it! Thank you for reading!


End file.
